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Monster looks to rebuild brand after loss

Jonathan Landrum jnr

Shaquille O'Neil will be one of Monster's promoters as it moves into a new phase. Photo: AP

It's been a tough couple of years for Monster.

The audio cable company was in a coveted position as the decade began after launching what became the hottest headphones on the market, Beats by Dre.

The audio devices had hip-hop legend Dr Dre as a namesake and soon became synonymous with headphone chic. Celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber launched their own signature Beats by Dre lines.

But Beats Electronics ended its partnership with Monster last year.

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Even though Beats is still superhot, Monster chief executive Noel Lee believes his San Francisco-based company has the proper pieces in place to regain its mojo.

"It left us having to reinvent ourselves, and that's what we are going to do," says self-proclaimed "Head Monster" Lee.

The company is pushing out headphones, tablets, slim battery power adapters and portable DJ turntable mixers, and tapping stars including Shaquille O'Neal, Nick Cannon and Jason Aldean as its pitchmen.

Lee, who often rides a gold-plated Segway because of a neurodegenerative disease, is an eccentric champion of the privately owned Monster.

He takes a lot of the credit for the stylish Beats by Dre headphones, saying the key contribution of Beats Electronics was marketing.

"We supplied all the distribution, all the technology, all the engineering that went into the product," Lee says.

"What we didn't have was the marketing clout before."

He hopes the recruitments of music producer Swizz Beatz and former basketball star Shaquille O'Neal as promoters will fix that.

Monster, which was founded by Lee in 1978, became known for selling pricey video and audio cables. Monster eventually partnered with Beats, launching Beats by Dre in 2008. Both companies flourished together over the next five years.

In its last year with Monster, 2012, Beats by Dre captured 53 per cent of the $US1 billion ($A1.13 billion) annual headphone market, according to market research company NPD Group.

But Beats decided not to renew a five-year contract with Monster in early 2012 after HTC bought a majority stake in the company for $300 million (it later sold half the shares back to Monster). Since the split, Beats' market share has increased to 57 per cent.

Looking back, Lee says he made a mistake by not building his own company's brand while working with Beats.

He's now looking to gain more exposure by partnering with Viacom, Clear Channel and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which will be marketing Monster on their networks or at events.

Beats by Dre declined to comment for this story.

Monster is trying to widen its demographic with various headphone lines for business travellers, fitness enthusiasts, video gamers and listeners of different music genres.

"They are looking at the headphone market and the way people are wearing them," says Ben Arnold, director of the NPD Group.

"We know people have multiple pairs of headphones for different listening occasions. They are working on so many different spaces. It says to me that they are trying to forge a new name for themselves."

But it's not all about headphones for Monster. Swizz Beatz sees enormous value in creating other products, such as the pocket-sized GO-DJ, a portable turntable mixer.

"We want to be innovators like Apple," he says.

"We want to introduce people to a DJ production set that's wireless. A DJ doesn't have to be in the booth no more. He could be in the middle of the dance floor, rocking all of his records ... That's where we are going. Everything we're doing is going to feel organic."

3 comments

"We want to be innovators like Apple."

Haw haw. Beatz me how they will do it.

Commenter

pervertt

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

January 02, 2014, 1:10PM

I have worked in the same sector where Monster participates for quite some years. The mark ups on their products are OBSCENE.In the end......the market works out for itself what is "value" and what isn't.By the way....Australia's "leading electical supplier" has many stores with posters around the showroom that ask the question....."Have you bought your Monster cable today?"No wonder this same company, and it's racehorse loving owner, are bleating poor these days. The consumer has AWAKENED!! May their tribe diminish.

Commenter

The Seer

Date and time

January 02, 2014, 5:48PM

Monster? Synonymous for selling "premium" HDMI cables at $200-$1000? The Monster brand represents just one thing - selling (admittedly quality cable) at prices 5-20 times more costly than could be easily found elsewhere with a google search. They put the 'scam' in 'artists'.

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